


Death Doesn't Answer Your Curiosity

by PolarisTheYoungWolf



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jealous Ford, Original Character(s), Past Relationship(s), Post-Apocalypse, Regret, ex-wife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 17:25:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5214431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolarisTheYoungWolf/pseuds/PolarisTheYoungWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're not him...you're not my Stan." she stated solemnly.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Stanford asked, but wasn't all that interested. They were still cleaning up the mess Bill's Weirdmageddon had caused. Still dealing with Stanley's death. But the way this woman, who suddenly showed up out of nowhere, called Stanley 'her Stan', made something spiteful and jealous rise in Ford.</p>
<p>"No. No you don't. You see...a long time ago, Stan and I got married. I've come a long way, but something tells me I'm too late."</p>
<p>'<i>Join the club.<i>' he thought bitterly. She turned to leave without saying another word but Ford stopped her, "Wait!" she looked back questionably. Ford took a moment to decide whether he really wanted to ask her to stay or not. But, he needed some sort of closure. This would have to do.</i></i><br/> </p>
<p>"Can you tell me about him?" Though it killed him to say it, he forced the words out. " <i>Your<i> Stan? Tell me about <i>your<i> Stan?"</i></i></i></i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Death Doesn't Answer Your Curiosity

_"Stanley, wait!" Ford yelled as he reached for his brother._

_"Soos, remember what you promised me? That'll you'll protect those kids with your life?" Stan asked without looking back at Ford who tried to get up, but he'd injured his leg along the way, so he fell back down. Didn't stop him from trying to crawl to his brother._

_Soos, standing next to Stan just nodded. He was trying to be brave but they knew the plan, Stan's plan, and knew how it would end._

_"Good. Add in Pointdexter to that list." Stan then laid a hand on Soos's shoulder and forced a grin. "You've been a great handyman, Soos. You've always been like a son to me, wish I coulda been better to ya."_

_"Mr. Pines..." Soos sniffed and wiped his eyes furiously._

_"Stanley! Don't ignore me, damn it!" Ford cried as he kept crawling towards them._

_"Protect them Soos!" Stan ordered as he picked up the weapon Ford had originally wanted to use on Bill. Stan had found it and fixed it, how? Well, with the tricks he's picked up as he fixed the portal._

_Soos still wanted to cry, a few tears escaped him, but he put on a brave and determined face. He straightened his spine and saluted. "Yes, sir, Mr. Pines, Sir!"_

_"Damn it, Stanley! Don't do this! There's gotta be another way! You realize you'll die if you do this, don't you?" Ford demanded, his voice straining as panic coursed through him. His shoulder shook as he stared at his brother's back. Stanley wouldn't turn back, wouldn't look at him. If he could just look into his yes he was sure he could convinced him to think rationally. "DAMN IT, LOOK AT ME!"_

_"He's dead." Stan said quietly._

_The words confused Ford. "Wha-?"_

_"Stanley Pines. He died a long time ago in a car crash."_

_Ford shook his head. "You're **not** dead! And you won't die! We just need a better plan! Let's just thin-Ah!" Ford grabbed his leg where it was wounded._

_"It's funny...I never really thought this was how it'd be it. I pictured a happy reunion with ya. But this is how it is. You wanted your life back, Ford. You wanted me gone. And I guess it's always had to be like that."_

_Ford shook his head, "Not like this, Stanley. Not like this!"_

_"Been livin' a borrowed life, on borrowed time." He cocked the weapon and it buzzed as it generated the energy that powered it. "Time's running out."_

* * *

 

"Stanley!" Ford cried out as he startled awake. 

He panted as he looked around. He fell asleep in the living room in Stanley's old chair. 

"Great Uncle Ford?" 

Looking towards the doorway he saw as Dipper and Mabel rushed into the room to check in on him. Everything was still so raw and Bill's Weirdmageddon mess still fresh. They got a lot of calls, being the ones who would know how to fix things. Constantly busy, but they all were glad for the work. With Stanley gone, they didn't really know how to talk about it. Ford _hadn't_ been the one who spent the entire summer trying to get to know these kids. Sure they were relatives, but not as close of a family as with Stanley. Ford hadn't been able to confirm if Dipper and Mabel's parent's were still alive. For all he knew, he might be their only guardian left. In a way it pained him, but in another way he wanted to have family close. 

_The second chance he never gave Stanley._

"Sorry kids...another nightmare." he replied to their questioning looks. 

The twins shared a look as they communicated silently. That was another thing that pained Ford. He saw himself and Stanley so much in Dipper and Mabel, but where the Stan twins failed, Dipper and Mabel succeeded in each other. 

"Dipper and I were going to go with Soos and Wendy to see what more we can salvage." Mabel mumbled. Since Bill's prison bubble and losing Stan, she hasn't really had time to get back to her old bubbly self. Ford wondered if she ever would. An apocalypse chances people, and only for the worse. 

"Alright...be careful." he said. They nodded and left him. 

He wished he could go with them. Map out the safe from the dangerous places of what's left of Gravity Falls. Trying to save and rescue anyone they could find. But his leg wasn't fully healed yet, anything to speed up the healing was missing, and he'd just be a burden and slow them down. 

* * *

 

It was getting close to a month after the events of Weirdmaggedon and communications were still down. Ford managed to make it so some walkie-talkies worked and gave them _some_ sort of communication, but that was about it.

The television still worked, but it only showed anything live from whatever the local news station could report. That's being used as a way for people in Gravity Falls to come in and try to contact family members and friends. 

There was a knock on the door and Ford looked up from the machine he was working on. He wanted wider reception but the parts he needed were hard to find. And since he couldn't move all that well, it was harder since he couldn't go too far. He'd ask the kids or Soos for help, but even after all this time it was hard to look at him. One of the many draw backs of being a twin and losing one...a constant reminder of what was lost. 

Shaking his head from those thoughts, he grabbed his crutch and limped to the door. Now where did Dipper and Mabel say they were going to be today? Helping families at the high school? Checking the forest for more survivors? One or the other. He could send whoever was at the door to the high school, but not the forest. It was still very unsafe. The only reason he let the kids go in there was because Wendy was with them. He'd have to tell them to come back later. The kids always came back just before sundown. 

When he opened the door he saw a woman. About his age, a few years younger. Hair that used to be black but now was mixed with a lot of greys. Light brown skin and whiskey colored eyes. She was beautiful now, even with the few scars that littered her body. She must have been a knock out in her prime. 

"You're not him...you're not my Stan." she stated solemnly.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Stanford asked, but wasn't all that interested. They were still cleaning up the mess Bill's Weirdmageddon had caused. Still dealing with Stanley's death. But the way this woman, who suddenly showed up out of nowhere, called Stanley 'her Stan', made something spiteful and jealous rise in Ford.

"No. No you don't. You see...a long time ago, Stan and I got married. I've come a long way, but something tells me I'm too late."

' _Join the club. _'__ he thought bitterly.

She turned to leave without saying another word but Ford stopped her, "Wait!" she looked back questionably. Ford took a moment to decide whether he really wanted to ask her to stay or not. But, he needed some sort of closure. This would have to do.  

"Can you tell me about him?" Though it killed him to say it, he forced the words out. " _Your_ Stan? Tell me about __your__ Stan?"

She didn't look too sure, but when she looked back at the wreckage that surrounded the area, she looked back at Ford and nodded. 

Ford led her into the kitchen and prepared them some tea. She was thankful and looked even more pleased, guiltily so, when he offered her something to eat. Taking in her tired, dirty, and scarred appearance, Ford could only guess that the affects of Bill's crime had reached far. 

"Where are you from?" he asked.

"New Orleans." she replied as she munched on some of the animal crackers Mabel had been storing in their room. Now that Ford paid attention to her voice, he could hear a hint of a New Orleans accent. 

"As it as bad as it was here?" he couldn't help but ask. She nodded. 

They were quiet for a while. Ford was patient as he watched her eat and drink, slowly taking in the sight of...his brother's wife? Ex-wife?

"What do you want to know?" she finally asked. 

"How'd you meet?" he asked. 

She smiled kindly at the memory, looking away with a faraway stare. 

"In New Orleans. We were so young back then...seems like a life time ago." She paused and stirred her tea. "He was selling his latest Stan-O...whatever. A complete scam. It was very cute. At the time I was working the streets selling voodoo dolls and fortunes." 

Ford raised a questioning eyebrow at her. 

She smiled a bit sheepishly. "I didn't have family or much of a home. Worked in a friend's hotel to pay for the room I shared with another employee during the day. At night I worked my 'magic' on tourist. He never fell for the scam, but he wanted in since I made an okay amount. I tried to sell him on it so bad..." she shook her head fondly, remembering conversations and actions of a Stanley he never got to meet. 

"Our mother was a psychic." Ford said. Why? He wasn't sure.

"Oh I know. Pathological liar. Said it's where he got it from, his pizzazz." she smiled at yet another memory. Ford clenched his first. Maybe this was a bad idea. All he was feeling was jealousy instead of closure. 

Stanley had lived an entire live away from him. Even while they were still on the same earth, but he'd been too stubborn to seek him out and put the past in the past. 

"We made quite the pair...we pulled off a lot of scams together. In our own way, it was romantic. Living off the excitement and adrenaline, one great adventure after another. We reached Vegas and well...we got hitched easily enough. By Elvis no less."

"What happened?" Ford asked. Sounds a lot like what Stanley's perfect life would sound like. 

She shrugged, "I was getting old and I knew it. The scams we pulled off weren't the same as time went on, didn't hold the appeal they once did. I wanted to settle..Stan...he had unfinished business. He had a great drive in him...but he wasn't happy. He wouldn't be until he completed that unfinished business. So...we parted. Sadly not without some unsavory words and broken hearts...I should have come looking for him sooner. Truth is...I did. But I heard about the crash...at first, I believed it. But then....a part of me held on to some silly hope. People always underestimated him, but he was a genius."

Ford couldn't help the scoff if he tried.

She smiled knowingly at him, like she's head that plenty of times before.

"It's not academic genius...or even obvious, but, he's clever. Clever in a way that you kind of have to respect. It's what drew me to him in the first place." There was a pause as she wrung her hands together and then finally asked, "Do you...do you know h-how?"

Ford swallowed thickly. Oh he knew how. He kept reliving Stanley's final moments every day since they happened. But looking at her, he held back from the whole truth. Only said what mattered.

"He's the reason we're all alive right now. He stopped the apocalypse. He...he died a hero."

She choked up a bit before gathering herself and nodded. "Yeah..." she wiped her eye, "That sounds like my Stan. I should go."

'You should' he wanted to say. The part of Ford that didn't get to make peace with his brother wanted her gone. She had great memories of Stan that he could never have. Pieces of him that he used to see as kids but denied himself in more matured situations. Stanley wasn't all that bad, not if Dipper and Mabel's parents trusted him enough to send their kids to him to spend an entire summer. And he was great with the kids. Sure they were the clearly from the Pines' family tree, but they were still damn good kids. And Stanley nurtured the better parts of both of them. That was the Stan that she helped develop, the Stan she got to see the early stages of. 

"The high school is offering shelter and supplies. You should stop by there...stick around for a while. It's a mess, but Gravity Falls is actually one of the safest places out there right now." he finally said. 

She looked at him for a good minute. It unnerved him. Eventually she nodded and wordlessly left. 

* * *

 

_"Stanley, please don't leave me..." Ford begged. "Please just look at me!"_

_Stan made a move like he wanted to turn, to look at him, but he steeled himself. Squaring his shoulders he walked up to the hot wired car and got in. The wheels sped and created a dust cloud. Ford ignored his injured leg as he shot up and tried to run after his brother, but Soos held him back._

_"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! I HAVE TO STOP HIM! HE'S GONNA DIE! HE'S GONNA GET HIMSELF KILLED!"_

_"Mr. Pines...Mr. Pines knows what he's doing." Soos said miserably._

_Ford glared angrily at Soos, "HE'S GOING TO DIE!"_

_"He knows that, dude..."_

_Ford was about to scream more at Soos, demand they go after Stanley, when a voice cuts through his hysterics._

_"Great Uncle Ford, are you okay?" Dipper questioned._

_"Where's Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked._

_Ford looked between them, but before he could rack his brain for an answer there was an explosion. The aftershocks of it knocked them all away and off their feet. Ford ended up hitting his head and losing consciousness. Before he blacked out completely he managed one last thing. "Come back Stanley..."_


End file.
